Youth padded league

Our league's youngest players start out at age 6, although I know some nearby leagues that actually start their tackle football programs at age 5. One of the biggest challenges is finding equipment that will fit those 45 lb. giants! Our 6-7 year old (Pee-Wee level) games sometimes resemble smear the queer more than real football but the kids have a blast with it.

As with all youth sports it is the parents that are tough to handle most of the time. We play 8-man ball with our youngest age group and try to make it as fun and uncompetitive at that age as possible. Our next level we call Juniors which are 8-9 years old (usually 3rd and 4th graders). Two coaches on each side of the ball are still allowed on field at this level but we do not allow blitzing or an initial rush of more than 5 players to give the offenses a better chance to be successful.

Our oldest age level players we call Seniors and they are 10-12 years old and are usually in the 5th and 6th grades. The game at this level is essentially the same as what they'll see in Jr. High/Middle School and part of our goal at this age is to help prepare them for that and beyond for those who stick with it. Although some leagues allow 7th graders to play both school ball and youth league ball as well, we do not, partly because we want to support the school programs at the intermediate level and partly because we think that much football might actually contribute to burnout much as we feel the select programs likely do.

Concerning possible burnout. I'd say there's less of a chance of burnout causing a kid to not continue to play the game than possibly having a bad experience with a less than stellar coach. My personal opinion is that current trends such as select (often times year-round) baseball and soccer are far more likely to produce burned out kids than our program. The reality is that, even here in Texas, we are somewhat competing for athletes for our sports at an increasingly early age. Sad in my opinion but unfortunately true. Although I continue and always will encourage my players to play any sport they enjoy (especially with a ball in it), there are many baseball and soccer coaches who discourage parents and kids from giving football a try when they're young. I have always loved baseball and have grown to actually enjoy soccer so there's no grudge with those sports other than the exclusivity that many in their ranks are attempting to promote with young athletes. With a growing number of parents forcing their children to choose a particular sport to specialize in at such early ages, we need to make sure football is an option and unfortunately flag football will not be able to compete with a tackle program so be prepared for that should you decide to take the plunge and start a league. Although an unintended result of our program's growth over the past 6 years, our local YMCA's flag football program has faded to the point of near extinction going into this season.

This might have been a whole lot more than you bargained for when you posted your question, but be careful what you ask for!!! In all seriousness, if I can ever be of any help to you or your organization in getting a league off the ground, please don't hesitate to contact me at cyflcoach@gmail.com.

Thanks for your post and best of luck to you coach!

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

We let them put the pads on for 5th and 6th grades. Our 3rd and 4th graders wear flag, and our 1st and 2nd play ultimate football. We have done this for years with very little burnout. I agree with coach Hartman, you have to really keep your parents and coaches in line. Nothing will ruin the game faster for a kid than a bad experience with either (or both). This means you really need to make an investment of time helping to teach your coaches and parents the right way to do things.